Mojokerto, Bidik – The second weekly forum of the Arabic-English Language Consortium (AELC) at Universitas KH. Abdul Chalim (UAC) addressed the university’s student recruitment challenge. Two speakers, moderated by Ismi Zahria, presented complementary strategies: Sri Surya Dewi outlined an admission funnel, and Pungky Ramadhani outlined a long-term appeal-building framework. Examination and Meeting Room, Postgraduate Building. UAC, Saturday, 22 August 2026.
A Four-Stage Admission Framework (Sri Surya Dewi)
Presenting “UAC 2027 Admission Strategies,” she stressed that enrollment numbers affect financial sustainability, the academic ecosystem, lecturer workload, and reputation. Her foundation: a dedicated admission team, a clear process, set targets/KPIs, and regular reviews. The admission process runs through six stages (marketing, communication, counseling, application support, follow-up, registration), which she organized into four phases:
- Reach: Students, alumni, lecturers, teachers, and community leaders make UAC visible — through a student ambassador program, digital content, and offline partnerships with schools/pesantren and PLP/KKN programs.
- Engage: Builds interest through faculty showcases, Q&A with lecturers and alumni, open campus days, and competitions. Scholarships did heavy lifting — five existing programs plus four proposed ones (Partner School, Referral-Based Incentive, PERGUNU, and ParagonCorp).
- Convert: Turns interest into applications via a user-friendly website, an accessible contact person, and a simple process — answering every question that might stop a student from applying.
- Enroll: Closes the gap between acceptance and actually enrolling, through a welcome message, registration instructions, parent communication, deadline reminders, and orientation info — so the student feels “UAC is expecting me and helping me.”
The example of “Aisyah” traces the full path: sees a scholarship post on Instagram (Reach) → joins an Open Campus (Engage) → applies via WhatsApp after counseling (Convert) → gets accepted and welcomed into orientation (Enroll).
Building a University Students Choose (Pungky Ramadhani)
Presenting “How to Get More Students,” her premise: recruitment starts before any promotion happens. She split the work into two tracks:
- Long-term: Raising student/faculty/institutional achievements, building a brand identity through alumni success stories, and staying consistently active on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. A small content team pairs a core strategy/production/analytics group with rotating student creators — her key point: let Gen Z make content for Gen Z, not formal advertising-style content.
- Short-term: Direct outreach through school visits, campus presentations, workshops, and competitions, alongside formal partnerships with school leaders, guidance counselors, and subject teachers — since they help shape students’ decisions.
Short-term brings students through the door; long-term gives them a reason to stay and choose UAC.
Two Perspectives, One Goal
Sri Surya Dewi focused on what happens once a student notices UAC (a structured path to enrollment), while Pungky Ramadhani focused on why a student would choose UAC in the first place (achievements, brand, and content worth watching). The two complement each other: a smooth application process without a strong brand has fewer students to convert, and a strong brand without a clear process loses interested students to confusion. This second forum shifted AELC’s scope from religious education to institutional strategy, giving the university community a shared vocabulary for recruitment: a four-stage funnel from reach to enrollment, paired with long-term brand-building. AELC continues to hold these forums weekly as a space for both academic and institutional discussion